How Much Does Your 4 Year Old Know (Letters & Numbers)?

Updated on
July 10, 2012

J.L.
asks from
Pittsburgh, PA
on July 07, 2012

36
answers

My daughter is 4 and I'm wondering if she doesn't know as much as she should in regards to her numbers and letters. She can only identify a couple of letters and she can't write any of them. Well, she does make an A, but she writes it upside down. She can count into her teens and identify about six or seven numbers. She did go to preschool during the school year for two days a week for two hours each day. They did introduce the numbers and letters but didn't get into depth about any of them. Starting in the fall she will go to preschool three days a week for 2 1/2 hours a day and they will get more into depth with the numbers and letters. I have been working with her but I'm going to focus a L. more on it. She isn't behind developmentally and she is very intelligent. I definitely think she is capable of much more. I'd like to get more of an idea of where other four year old children are and I'd appreciate your input. Thanks!

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D.K.

answers from
Pittsburgh
on
July 07, 2012

My son is 6. When he started a Montessori preschool at 4 (he had been in a different preschool before) he could count to 1000, write all his letters and numbers (some reversals - this is normal at that age, don't worry about it), recognize all the letter sounds, sound out simple written words, add numbers below 10 and come up with rhymes. We did not do any flash cards, television, DVDs or any kind of 'work' but we did read to him every day and counted all things we saw.

J.L.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
July 07, 2012

if she is going to preschool this year for a year before kindergarten you will be amazed at how much she will learn and be able to do. If she was entering K this fall I would be concerned but since she will have a year of preschool I think she will be fine. you should browse pinterest to find some school ideas you could do with her. There are soooooo many ideas there and lots that are more than stuff to do one paper. Enjoy learning together!

S.B.

answers from
Kansas City
on
July 07, 2012

it really just depends on what you do with them. When I went to kindergarten, all I knew was the alphabet song and what I saw on Sesame Street. My kid was doing basic addition and subtraction by 5 and when she was bad, the worst punishment I could do was take away her math workbooks. There's really no right or wrong at this age. But they are L. sponges at this age, so if you want to teach her more, now is the time to do it.

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H.W.

answers from
Portland
on
July 07, 2012

At the beginning of four, my son had nearly no letter or number recognition at all.

I decided to do us both a favor-- I decided NOT to worry about it.
Kids get interested in learning this stuff when they do. Until there's interest, you can do a perfectly great job of frustrating yourself and your child with trying to teach them.

As a preschool teacher, I know my best ally is keeping it playful. What I did with my son was to play counting games (any game which involved counting spaces/dice dots), 'write' lots of thank yous and notes to friends and neighbors (for gifts or just because) and helping him sign his name, having him sit with me and dictate those notes. It helped to take a walk and count how many steps we took or to ask "what do you think that sign says?" (usually a simple, common sign like 'stop') or to count how many of a certain color car or other item we saw (bikes, dogs, cats, etc.) Sometimes, it was fun to pick one number and one letter, write them both down on an index card and go on a 'hunt' for them. Read off addresses of houses as you pass (just as clear numbers: "2012" would be read as "two-zero-one-two"). We used a measuring tape and sidewalk chalk and then measured out the lengths of dinosaurs along the sidewalk, adding a neighborhood invitation ("How long was an apatosaurus?" written next to it-- it will get some interest.)

With letters, I chose to focus on just helping my son learn the letters of his name first. We had sung the ABC song a jillion times, for everything. (It was even a way of timing things-- "I'm going to sing ABCs three times, and then we are leaving the park", etc.) You can make them out of playdough. You can make letters with your bodies. Read a lot together, esp. some good alphabet books. Point to the letters as you say them.

Let her lead. Let her see you reading, counting, too. Here's the thing-- I didn't worry about my son, and he's now five and has grown a lot over the last year. He's come to notice the letters which begin his friend's names at school (they had namecards). He can write his name on the letters and Valentines we sent out. He sometimes likes to make signs-- one day I was making lunch and he seemed bored, so I asked him to make a sign for our 'menu' and spelled out letters to him ('tuna for lunch').

Best of all, playing is still the best way to learn. Keep it fun. If kiddo becomes disinterested after a couple of minutes, follow her cue and find something else to do. I think too many parents forget how a child's brain develops and try to force it at this age. (No thanks to Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind, age-inappropriate educational standards are being imposed on our youngest learners... their brains do not work the way bureaucrats propose...sigh.) To me, the worst thing we can do is to frustrate our children on letters and numbers and learning early on. So keep it simple, keep it light and you will find that she learns plenty in the coming year. 4 to 5 is a huge opportunity for growth, so keep the tv and media (including computer games) at a minimum-- there's so much we know about children's learning which tells us that three-dimensional hands-on experiential learning is still the best for this age.

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A.B.

answers from
Dallas
on
July 07, 2012

My daughter knows the alphabet, can count to 100, can write her own name and recognizes some words and various letters in some words. All that said, research has shown that no matter where they start out that kids catch up to a common level by either 3rd grade or 5th grade (I think it's 3rd but can't totally remember). Does my daughter NEED to know how to count to 100 at 4 yrs old? No. If she read everything under the sun, would she be able to comprehend it as intended? No.

What your daughter needs to be developing more than anything is the mindset of wanting to learn, enjoying learning, the behavior to be able to learn in a classroom environment (sitting still, listening skills, not talking when others are talking, problem solving/decision making, etc), and appropriate social skills for interacting with other children. Developing the skills to learn is far more important at this age than memorizing numbers and letters. It sounds like your daughter is doing just fine; don't stress.

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R.K.

I love this question. She is doing very well. Some will be doing more and some will be doing less, but be assured, her development is fine.

One way to look at this to have her do a lot of work to memorize letters and numerals. Nah!!!! Not efficient and not necessary.

Another way (and I think a great one) is for you to keep talking and talking. Label letters casually, constantly. "Oh look, another 'b'! Wow, ball and bat both start with the letter 'b'!" No response from your daughter is necessary. Put a fun word in magnetic letters on the fridge every day. Mention it and the letters in it. "Look. I made the word "cat" for you, because I know we are going to see a cat at your friend's house today. It starts with this letter "C".

Count the stairs as you go, one day each stair, another day by 2's, whatever math game you can think of. Count the toys you pick up together. "Wow, we picked up 4. Let's pick up 1 more, and then we'll have picked up 5! Now 6!" When you go back to the fridge, put the magnetic number 6 on it. Talk, talk, talk. As you put out the cups at the table, count them, then the plates, then the napkins.

Skip the printing letters for now. Let her draw, color, finger paint, make chalk pictures on the sidewalk. Let her do her artwork on an easel, to use her muscles correctly (prevents any hooking). Have fun with her making "modern art" by copying your huge horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines, circles and crosses.

Build her knowledge base. Soon she will copy you, talking, talking and talking. She'll count everything, she'll make verbal math games, she'll point out letters. Magic! You might end up posting me back and asking me how to stop her. :)

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S.E.

answers from
Salinas
on
July 07, 2012

There is such a huge learning curve at this age. Think about parents who say their 2 year is riding a bike (no training wheels) and the 5 year old up the street with training wheel. They could both become very skilled on bikes when they are 12.

Continue doing activities with her and read aloud to her. I do know of a brilliant L. boy who did not know all his letters the first day of Kindergarten. The teacher made a comment to the mom that he is the only child who does not know all the letter and he starting out behind. Keep in mind both parents are medical doctors and expose him to many things. The mom was hurt and asked a group of moms if our kids knew the letter. Yes, all the rest did, but her son had mastered skills that ours did not.

p.s. I hope you do not get a lot of people posting that their child wrote the whole alphabet at 8 months old.

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D.T.

answers from
Muncie
on
July 07, 2012

We sang the ABC's and a bounce back version of counting when we washed our hands (up to 10). When she could do them by herself I bought flash cards and asked if she wanted to know what the letters and numbers looked like. I also bought her a wipe-away board that had both to help her learn to write. She can now write her name, the numbers up to 20 and the uppercase of all the letters. I think we've done a good bit of the ground work before she starts K, at least I hope so.

The key for us was not to push, make it fun and silly. Count jelly beans/steps to places you visit often. Point out letters in signs. She'll catch on.

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D..

Don't worry about the writing of numbers and letters. It's early for that. I am a bit concerned that she doesn't recognize them. If you show her a letter, she can't tell you what it is?

Does she know the alphabet song?

Spend this summer trying to teach her the alphabet in fun ways. My younger son had trouble with this - I took him to a homeschool tutor who tried several different mediums to help him. Cutting out pictures in a magazine to find all the "d" words, drawing letters with his finger in whipped cream (he liked that!), and finally when nothing really worked, a computer program by DK called Bear and Penguin "I Want to Read". That turned the light bulb on. They also had a beginning math CD and he learned numbers and very basic adding.

I urge you to work on that with her this summer. Sometimes the light bulb just has to come on and all will be fine. A child can be very smart but have trouble with these concepts.

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S.H.

answers from
Honolulu
on
July 07, 2012

Your daughter is fine.
My son was JUST like that at 4 years old.
I never pushed it, nor did his preschool.
Then, at turning 5, he went to Kindergarten.
I did not worry.
And in Kindergarten he BLOSSOMED.
He astonished me by how quickly he absorbed and picked up on "academics."
In Kinder, they learned to count to 100, learned to count by two's and three's and five's, learned ABC's, had Computer class, Hawaiian & Japanese & Mandarin language classes, science, math, sight words, the usual learning of colors/shapes/months/weekday names/seasons/calendar, adding & subtracting, writing words and sentences, reading, reading comprehension, and much more.

Keep in mind, that your daughter only attended preschool for 2-days a week for 2 hours each day. Then, in Fall she will go 3 days a week for 2.5 hours. So you cannot expect, that her learning will be like a 5-day a week full day, day.
My son, in Kindergarten, was ALL day 5 days a week.
And he attended preschool previously for 3 days, half days.
But even if Preschool he had no interest, in doing anything academic.
Then in Kindergarten, he really just naturally took off.
All without my pushing it.

Your daughter, is fine.
LOTS of kids, are this way at 4 years old.
Even if you think, she is capable of more (which my son was too, at 4 years old & I knew it), do not force it or push it. Or the child will hate, learning.
But you can "teach" her in FUN ways.
And, your daughter will be attending PREschool.
So I really, would not worry.
You don't have to "prep" her in order to go to Preschool.
Just let her have fun.

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T.M.

answers from
Tampa
on
July 07, 2012

Well, I can't tell if your 4-year old is your oldest child or not....I think that makes a HUGE difference. I have a 6 year old son and a 4 year old daughter. My daughter already knows all of the letters and most of the numbers. However, I really think that is due in a large part to learning from her brother who was in kindergarten this past year. I can't remember my son having as much interest in this stuff at 4.... My daughter will be starting the pre-K program next month....

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J.G.

answers from
Chicago
on
July 07, 2012

Does it matter where other 4 year olds are? Every kid puts their energy into different things, based on their interest. By 7, they are all at the same place.

My daughter (4 and 3 months) writes very few letters. She doesn't' like fine motor things. She can count to 60, and she can skip count to 100, by 10s, and to 20 by 2. She knows a lot of her numbers. And she reads level one books --she read me a Pinkalicious reader the other day --though she is terrible at phonics and is doing the whole word approach.

My daughter is my oldest. My son is 2.5. He knows all of his letters, and is currently working on learning his numbers. I have lots of puzzles around the house, and he loves starfall.com.

I should add that I am homeschooling my kids, doing an unschooling approach.

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J.☯.

Sounds about right to me. I wouldn't push it. Just keep reading to her and maybe make a game of it, especially in the car.

My son's preschool did more with numbers the first year and letters the second. He knew his numbers before going to preschool, but even after preschool he didn't know all his letters.

Kindergarten has to be one of the toughest grades to teach, because you'll have some kids who know all of their numbers and letters and sounds going in, some who've had very L. exposure and everything in between.

Don't push it, just have fun with her this summer. She's doing just fine!

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J.F.

I know you want to compare to see where she is, but that isn't the best idea. You know every kiddo is different.

My oldest who is 4 1/2, is almost reading. She has an INCREDIBLE memory. You tell her something ONCE and she has it. She knew all her letters (out of order), colors, shapes, and could count to 7 by the time she turned 2. I know this isn't the norm (so don't compare!).

My current 2 year old maybe knows 2-3 shapes, 2-3 colors, NO letters, and can count to 14.

I've taught elementary and have been used to working with kids with learning disabilties. So I have a habit of teaching my kids with lots of song and repetition.....which is ideal for littles.

A better question might serve you. "What can I do to help teach my 4 year old?"

Letter recognition:
*Sing the alphabet while going through an ABC book, pointing to the letters as you sing.
*Sing the alphabet religiously....we must sing it/listen to it 5-10 times a day (mostly as a night-night song).
*Pick 1-2 letters to focus on at a time. Write them on post-its and put them all over the house. Ask her what they are as often as possible. MAKE IT A GAME.
*The library did a game where the kids took a card from a basket that had the upper case letter on it. The kids then had to find the lower case letter that was "hidden" (scattered around the library).
*Use technology (if your kid likes it). There are tons of online games, etc. that make it interactive.
*Read to her as often as possible. Point to the words as you do so.
*TV shows like Word World and Super Why are great.

PM me if you want any specific ideas. :)

And remember, there are kids that just need a L. time for it to click. Keep her environment rich with education, and don't push her too hard. If she shuts down, be ok with that and move on to something else.

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S.G.

answers from
Grand Forks
on
July 07, 2012

Here a child only needs to know how to print and recognize their own name, be familiar with the alphabet and numbers 1-10, and understand how to look at a book (what page to look at first, how to follow the words with a finger from left to right). Pre-school is more about teaching kids to sit still, pay attention, take turns, stand in line and play nice. They go to kindergarten to learn the other stuff. There is no benefit to teaching a child these things before kindergarten (although it won't hurt either). At this age playing is more important than learning, because play is how they learn the skills they need at this stage.

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J.T.

answers from
Dallas
on
July 07, 2012

based on what you're saying, i think she is probably capable of a LOT more, will she be going to a different preschool in the fall? all 3 of my kids knew all their letters, the sounds they made, and recognized numerals(0-9) by the time they turned 2. and that was before preschool, all of mine started preschool the fall they turned 2.5 - get a couple of the LeapFrog Letter Factory dvds and the fridge magnet Leap Frog sets, she'll know them in a week!

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A.V.

answers from
Washington DC
on
July 07, 2012

I would talk to the preschool at the start of the year and find out what they consider average and what the students are expected to master. You can also find out on your district's website or by calling the school what she will need to know for kindergarten.

My DD (who is almost 4) does know her letters, can only write a few of them, can identify numbers up to 10 easily and some beyond that (depends).

The other thing you can do is make numbers/letters/math/spelling part of your day. My sister got DD a big book of numbers and it has basic math in it like "if you have 5 deer and each deer has 4 feet, how many feet are there total?" Or look for letters when you are out and about. "Oh, look, Julie. Do you see that sign? It has a J in it just like your name! Can you see any other letters?"

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T.M.

Mine new all their letters and numbers by age 4. It was something that was important to me and they liked learning.

My granddaughter just turned 4 and she's already been through Kumon.... she can do 3rd grade math already!

Read some simple books and start pointing out the letters and the sounds they make in the words. And you can learn numbers at the dinner table by counting food pretty easily. Get some magnetic alphabet letters and put them on the fridge and teach her how to spell her name.... if you make it fun, they will learn it without it being pressure.

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F.M.

answers from
San Antonio
on
July 07, 2012

My son turned 4 in April. He's never been to any sort of school, granted I plan to homeschool him, so perhaps I've done more than most do. He can read all his letters, count to 19 skipping a few (normally skips 14). He can write his name and copy what I write for him. (We made Father's Day cards. I wrote it down on paper and he copied it on to 8 pieces of cardstock to give to fathers we know. In some, the F was backwards, or the H was capital instead of lower case, etc.) People have told me that my son is ahead of his peers. But perhaps his interest to learn plus my teaching background is pushing him along.

We count a lot, but he has not gotten much practice with writing numbers yet. But when he's eating his 5 carrot bites, we talk about 5 minus 1 equals 4 left over! We talk about everything we see/do!

If you want to help your daughter, read to her, with her more. I highly recommend the DVDs from Preschool Prep Company. Meet the letters, Meet the numbers, Meet the Sight Words, meet the Phonics. Plus LeapFrog makes entertaining letter sound movies for the kids too. Some LeapFrog movies are on Netflix streaming if you have access to that.

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K.B.

answers from
Detroit
on
July 07, 2012

Keep in mind that there's a big difference between just-turned-4 and almost-5. And different kids have different abilities, regardless of how intelligent they are. My daughter recognized all the upper-case letters by the time she was 3, and now knows the lower case ones as well. She also could recognize all her numbers and now can count to 100. But I don't think she is typical - she has a phenomenal memory and also has great fine-motor control, so she can fairly easily write all the letters and numbers as well. She was in preschool as a 3 year old 2 days a week, and then this past year did 4 yo preschool 4 mornings a week, where the teacher really emphasized more academic stuff in order to get them ready for kindergarten. She will be starting kindergarten this fall (turns 5 next month). She really isn't reading much yet though - she recognizes some words, including her name, but that's it. She loves being read to and often tries to "read" from memory, or makes up narration based on what she sees in the pictures. Friends of mine told me when their daughter started K last year at 5.5, she really wasn't reading either, but within a couple of months, she was able to read many short simple words, and could figure out ones that she had not seen before but phonetically were similar to ones she knew (i.e. being able to read "rat" because she knew "cat").

What I would do to help your daughter is read to her every day, especially ABC books. There's a lot of TV programs too that can be helpful, especially the ones on PBS Kids like Sesame Street and Super Why and Word World. She can try tracing letters in sand or shaving cream, which might be easier for her right now than trying to grip a pencil or crayon. Meet with her preschool teacher ahead of time if you can, and let her know your concerns. Hopefully by the time the school year is over, your daughter will have made some huge strides forward!

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J.L.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
July 07, 2012

if she is going to preschool this year for a year before kindergarten you will be amazed at how much she will learn and be able to do. If she was entering K this fall I would be concerned but since she will have a year of preschool I think she will be fine. you should browse pinterest to find some school ideas you could do with her. There are soooooo many ideas there and lots that are more than stuff to do one paper. Enjoy learning together!

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N.L.

answers from
Jacksonville
on
July 07, 2012

Well, my oldest only just turned 3, but she does know all her letters and her numbers 0 - 10. She can count to 100 by ones and by tens.

We worked on letters first, and she knew them by the time she was about 20 months. I think she just had a natural inclination for letters....and a great love for Leapfrog's Letter Factory. If you allow your kids to watch tv, I strongly recommend it for kids to learn letters and their sounds. We pointed out words all the time, and she especially loved to see her name. She could recognize her name and a few other words before she even "knew" her letters.

That said, I think we might have been a bit obsessive about it. But, I was a brand new SAHM, and I was bored. :) I know lots of kids that didn't learn their letters and numbers until preschool and they're doing just fine. I hear it all evens out about kindergarten/1st grade.

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R.R.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
July 07, 2012

My guy turned 3 in April, he'll be starting preschool in September, his first time. He can identify all the letters in the alphabet by sight, and recite it as well. He can write C and O, probably because they're just a circle or partial one ; ) He can count to 23, not sure why not more, lol, and recognizes numbers, but hasn't really written any.

But, I worked on them since he was a baby in fun ways, like foam letters that stick to the tub during bathtime (they were around $5.99 @ Target), flash cards with cute pictures (the $1 section @ Target) or make your own with index cards, stickers and markers, making letters with Playdough by rolling noodles and forming letter shapes, wooden puzzles, getting him preschool workbooks to color and put stickers in, writing letters in the sand in the sandbox, pointing letters and numbers out on signs wherever we go, etc. I've kept it fun, not work, so he's learned without any pressure. He watches Sesame Street which always has numbers and letters of the day, and he loves "ABC" and number books, so it gets reinforced that way, too.

Your daughter will be going from 4 hours a week to 7.5 at preschool, so she'll be exposed a L. more to letters and numbers. I'd just reinforce them in fun ways at home, so she's getting it both places. She'll be fine and when it all clicks, she'll explode with knowledge!

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D.K.

answers from
Pittsburgh
on
July 07, 2012

My son is 6. When he started a Montessori preschool at 4 (he had been in a different preschool before) he could count to 1000, write all his letters and numbers (some reversals - this is normal at that age, don't worry about it), recognize all the letter sounds, sound out simple written words, add numbers below 10 and come up with rhymes. We did not do any flash cards, television, DVDs or any kind of 'work' but we did read to him every day and counted all things we saw.

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S.B.

answers from
Kansas City
on
July 07, 2012

it really just depends on what you do with them. When I went to kindergarten, all I knew was the alphabet song and what I saw on Sesame Street. My kid was doing basic addition and subtraction by 5 and when she was bad, the worst punishment I could do was take away her math workbooks. There's really no right or wrong at this age. But they are L. sponges at this age, so if you want to teach her more, now is the time to do it.

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J.S.

answers from
Pittsburgh
on
July 09, 2012

Well, looks like you already have a ton of answers (I haven't read through them yet), but my response would be not too worry about it. Someone once told me all kids catch up by 3rd grade! My daughter is also 4, and we ironically are in the same preschool "routine". I figure now is more about imagintive play, learning to get along with other children, sharing, having fun. They'll learn the numbers, letters, etc. I can see simply from your writing that you're an educated, caring mom, and you're not going to let her get too far into life without knowing a thing or two! So take it easy on yourself and enjoy this age of innocence...I already lose sleep over those teenage years we'll be facing in 10 years! ;-)

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N.J.

My son is 4.5 yrs old I have not worked on anything with him other than saying his full given name. With that said he went to preschool 3hrs/day for 2 days last year.

He knows all his letters, can count to 15, but really doesn't recognize the written number yet. He can write any letter you ask him to, and he can spell/write his first name. Knows all his colors and shapes Since he's picked up so much on his own I have no worries he'll pick up so much more when instructed. His preschool is play based, so much of his knowledge is simply through playing! I wouldn't worry about it too much :)

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B.B.

answers from
Dallas
on
July 07, 2012

My 4 1/2 to can write all letters but has trouble with some, but she can write her full name. She can count pretty high, same as 3 1/2 to. She can write most letters, but doesn't know how to spell her full name, o.ly nick name. Granted my kids have been in daycare a lot, and the gaps when they were staying home, we played ABCmouse.com, and I buy a lot of activity books.

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K.I.

answers from
Los Angeles
on
July 07, 2012

My 4y/o only knows her letters, the letters of her name and can only write her first name. Other than that she is clueless. She only knows the #'s 0,1,2 & 3.

This fall, she will be entering into her second year of preschool and I enrolled her in the Pre-K class, I am confident she will learn all she needs to know before entering into K. I am NOT in the least bit worried.

She is the youngest of 7 (kids and nephews) and I know that she will rock K!

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J.J.

answers from
Allentown
on
July 10, 2012

All kids are different. My daughter knew her letters and sounds, and could write her name in capitals, and could count to 20, but had trouble recognizing numbers. She is now 7, and is reading some but she struggles. My son who is 4 knows all the letters and sounds, can count to 100 and write his name both in caps as well as lower case, and can write most of the letters and numbers. HE knows and can do a lot more than she did. But all kids are different. Some know more, some less. I wouldn't worry too much. Expose her to more, make some games up if you are worried. But try not to stress to much. They are young.

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B.R.

answers from
York
on
July 10, 2012

My son learned his letters and sounds from the Leapfrog Letter Factory video when he was about 2 1/2. That was pretty much the only TV we let him watch at the time, so he thought it was a real treat to watch while I hopped in the shower. We also had a floor mat with letters on it, and we'd have him "Jump" on J, or run to Aunt Katie's special letter K. As he began to recognize more letters, we started playing a version of Twister on the floor mat. Like, put one foot on the B, put your hand on H. Keep it fun, but make it a daily focus and she'll learn those letters in no time!

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S.F.

answers from
Utica
on
July 07, 2012

Im a SAHM so I work on this sort of stuff with my toddler all the time so I think that helps a lot. She is 2 1/2 and can count to 17 and she actually recognizes the numbers out of sequence up to 20 and she knows 50 and 100. She can sing the alphabet and can recognize all her letters. She just started to write the letter t and i but thats it so far in terms of printing. She knows all her colours and many shapes. I think she is def. advanced for her age but like I said I work on this stuff with her all the time because I am home with her and Im able to
Good Luck

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K.M.

answers from
Kansas City
on
July 08, 2012

My son was 4 in March. He's known all of his uppercase letters and could identify 1-10 when he was 2. He learned to identify most of his lowercase letters when he was three. He can now count past 50 and identify almost all numbers 11-20. He can write his name and some other letters. We are working on sight words. My youngest is almost 2 and doesn't know a single letter or number. My older son knew all upper/lower case by 4-4.5.

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B.B.

answers from
New York
on
July 07, 2012

For only going to preschool 4 hours a week she is doing fine. I think you are smart to send her more often because she probably is capable of much more. My son is 4 as well and goes to preschool 4 days a week 2 1/2 hours a day. He can recognize all the letters and write some of them. He can copy all of them. He can write his first name but not his last name. He can do basic addition and subtraction and can count to 100. He can recognize most numbers up to 20, maybe more, I don't know. He has known all his shapes and colors since three but can not read unless it is a word he sees very often like Shoprite or Toys R Us.

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C.P.

answers from
Columbia
on
July 09, 2012

At 4, both of my boys knew all of their numbers (up to 20), letters (capitol and lowercase), shapes, and primary colors.

I used a Magna Doodle to teach numbers, letters and shapes. I just did a couple of each every night, showed them, told them the name, erased them, showed again, asked what they were, repeat until they recognized each one.

For colors, I drew different colored things and taped them to their bedroom wall. Yellow banana, orange ball, red apple...etc. Each night at bed time, I'd go through and ask what color they were. Once they knew, I tested their critical thinking and would point to the banana and say "is this a purple banana?" They'd laugh and laugh. :-)

It's sometimes up to you, mama, to find an innovative way to teach her. :-) Good luck.

ETA: Also, I didn't try to teach my kids to write because the schools have an actual method that they use. They also use a certain letter type. I didn't want them to be confused, so I just taught them to be able to read the letters, but not write them. They did just fine. They're in 4th and 6th grades this year...and both get A's and B's (with no help from me, really, because I make them work on their own).

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C.A.

answers from
New York
on
July 10, 2012

My 4 yr old daughter knows her ABC's and can count to 32. She knows some of the letters and can recognize 1-5. She cannot write yet either. She can do a's and like your daughter writes it upside down also. She can make an H and T. As with her counting when she masters the numbers we add 2 more and work with that till she gets it on her own and then add 2 more and so on. She has been watching nickJr and PbsKids so she is learning alot from those shows. Much more then I could teach her. She is learning the difference in pictures. When she is asked a question on the shows she is answering them correctly. I only let her watch the shows in the morning and then its time to go out and play. She does watch Dora right before bed and we go through some things in the mornings. During the day I will throw in some questions for her. She does know her phone number and what our full names are. God forbid she gets lost atleast she can tell them what our names are. I bought her a preschool book and she is doing great at it. It's called Bright Start Learn & Grow My Preschool Learning book for ages 3-5. It's a multi subject book.... alphabet and printing, beginning sounds, same or different, colors and shapes, counting and fun activities. It also has rewards stickers and wipe-off pages. Plus it has a bonus CD ROM of the complete book. You may want to try that or find something simular. She takes it everywhere with her. Best of luck